


Trapped

by hllfire



Series: Tumblr Prompts! [3]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Angst, Cerebro Malfunction, Charles Is Not Having A Good Time, Dark, Gen, Kinda, Out of Body Experiences, Tagged T just to be sure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24711049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hllfire/pseuds/hllfire
Summary: Charles is stuck in Cerebro after it malfunctions.Posted first onTumblr.
Series: Tumblr Prompts! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784146
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	Trapped

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Somiko_Raven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somiko_Raven/gifts).



> Prompt:  
>  _How about for a prompt, Cerebro malfunction._
> 
> This prompt was surely cool to write, specially because I like those darker themes, even if it's not _that_ dark, still was scary to think about this concept (specially because I tend to experience some of the emotions I write about). Hope you guys enjoy this small thing!

Charles had used Cerebro more than once ever since he built it, had experienced his telepathy expanding in ways that he alone could never do without the machine to enhance it, and it never had failed him. He and Hank kept checking on it every week to make sure it wouldn't malfunction, specially because they didn't know what _could_ happen if it malfunctioned. Unfortunately, Charles got the answer to that, and it was somehow worse than he imagined.

He knew what it was like to use Cerebro, the feeling of being connected to every mind in the world, to be able to control them if he wished to do so, or to just contact them if he needed to, but what he was experiencing now was different. He still felt the billions os minds around him, a constant murmur of voices and thoughts that seemed dulled down as if he was listening to all of them from another room, but he couldn't contact any, couldn't focus on one of them. It felt like astral projecting, and yet it felt completely different at the same time. Charles was aware of his body when he astral projected, even if his mind was somewhere else, but now it felt as if Charles' mind had detached itself almost completely, as if he was locked away from his own body.

There weren't images, there was only a dull darkness and the sound of everyone else's minds. He wasn't scared at first, only confused as he tried to understand what was happening. When he realized it was something to do with Cerebro, that the machine had locked his mind in that weird limbo where his mind was between nothingness and everyone else's minds, he still tried not to panic — it would do him no good. He tried to find a familiar mind, tried to look for Hank's specially, who would certainly know how to help him, and the panic finally started when he found that he couldn't.

It truly was like everyone else's minds were in another room, and Charles was locked from them, barely listening to them and without a way to reach them through the thick barrier that separated him from the minds. He was locked inside of that dark place with only his own thoughts as company and without a way of changing that. He wondered for a moment if he wasn't the one who was locked inside that limbo as all of the other minds were free on the other side.

He tried to cross that barrier, to reach again, scream into someone's mind to help him, but it was to no use. He tried to go back to his own body, regain control over it, but it was almost as if he was completely detached to it. There was a faint physical feeling coming from his hands resting on the arms of his wheelchair and his back against the back of it, but it was such a ghost feeling that it wasn't enough to bring him back, and his mind screamed again, trying to reach out to someone, anyone, who could help him, but nothing happened.

In Cerebro, Charles' body was relaxed and his eyes were closed, face peaceful as if he was sleeping, nothing giving away what was truly happening. Nothing for someone to try and take him out of the machine. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kuddos are always appreciated! ❤️❤️
> 
> Find me on [tumblr!](http://hellfre.tumblr.com)


End file.
